Pencil apparatus

ABSTRACT

Pencil apparatus comprising a translating member mounted within a flexible tubular pencil barrel adjacent one end of a stick of writing material longitudinally disposed in the barrel. The translating member is responsive to radial deformation forces applied to the pencil barrel to axially advance the writing stick through the barrel. Support members may be provided within the barrel to radially support the stick of writing material. An eraser may be provided which is also responsive to radial deformation forces applied to the pencil barrel to axially advance the eraser through the barrel, but in an opposite direction.

United States Patent Chaudoir et al.

PENCIL APPARATUS Inventors: Charles J. Chaudoir; True E.

Cousins, both of Houston; Kornel Nagy, Channelview, all of Tex.

Assignees: Bill B. Berryhill, Bellaire, Tex.;

Carlos A. Torres, Houston, Tex. part interest to each Notice: Theportion of the term of this patent subsequent to Apr. 23, 1991,

has been disclaimed.

Filed: Sept. 7, 1973 Appl. No.: 395,137

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 238,326,March 27, 1972, Pat. No. 3,806,262.

2,385,329 9/1945 Buchanan 401/65 2,523,568 9/1950 Halverson 401/653,250,254 10/1966 Gerspacher 401/31 3,806,262 4/1974 Chaudoir et al.401/56 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 197,618 8/1965 Sweden 222/386836,263 1/1960 United Kingdom 222/386 Primary Examiner-Lawrence CharlesAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Torres & Berryhill [57] ABSTRACT Pencilapparatus comprising a translating member mounted within a flexibletubular pencil barrel adjacent one end of a stick of writing materiallongitudinally disposed in the barrel. The translating member isresponsive to radial deformation forces applied to the pencil barrel toaxially advance the writing stick through the barrel. Support membersmay be provided within the barrel to radially support the stick ofwriting material. An eraser may be provided which is also responsive toradial deformation forces applied to the pencil barrel to axiallyadvance the eraser through the barrel, but in an opposite direction.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED JULZQIQYS I 3, 837, 160

PENCIL APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The presentapplication is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser.No. 238,326, filed Mar. 27, 1972, now issued as US. Pat. No. 3,806,262.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention pertains to apparatus for dispensing material from a tubularmember. In particular, it concerns apparatus suitable for axiallyadvancing a material through a tubular member for dispensing through oneend thereof. More specifically, the present invention pertains tosimplified translating apparatus suitable for feeding a pencil lead outthe end of a pencil barrel.

2. Description of the Prior Art Mechanical pencils have been known formany years. Such pencils eliminate the necessity of having to frequentlysharpen the pencil as with the common wooden pencil. However, onedisadvantage of the mechanical pencils heretofore developed is that theyare relatively expensive in comparison with wooden pencils. Manyattempts have been made to develop a simplified mechanical pencil whichcan compete with the less expensive wood pencils. Some of these designsmay be seen by referring to the following US. Pat. No. 444,974Climenson, No. 605,657 Toquet, No. 2,523,568 Halverson and No. 2,563,551Refsdal. Although some of these designs are less expensive than somemechanical pencils, they are still more expensive than the common woodenpencil, and naturally, more complex.

In our aforementioned copending application, Ser. No. 238,326, asimplified translating mechanism is disclosed suitable for dispensinglead from a tubular pencil barrel in whichthe translating member isdisposed. The translating member may comprise a central body portionfrom which a resilient portion projects radially for engagement with theinternal walls of the tubular member. The tubular member is deformableon the application of external radial forces thereto to cause alternatedeformation and restoration of the resilient portion of the translatingmember. The resilient portion can take the form of a frusto-conicalskirt, a plurality of fingers, or other shapes, slanting in a rearwardlydirection relative to the direction of desired axial advance. The uniqueshape of the translating member causes it to be advanced step-by-step onalternate deformation and restoration of the surrounding tubular membercausing the lead or writing stick contained therein to be dispensedthrough one end of the tubular member.

The design concept for the mechanical pencil and the common woodenwriting pencil have been relatively unchanged for many years. With sucha translating mechanism, the same utility is provided with significantcost reduction. Accordingly, a mechanical pencil is provided which issimple to operate, very inexpensive to manufacture and safer than othermechanical pencils.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present application is directed toimprovements in pencil embodiments of the invention disclosed in ourcopending application Ser. No. 238,326. Like the former embodiment, thepencil of the present invention comprises a flexible tubular barrel; astick of writing material longitudinally disposed in the barrel; andresilient translating means engaging one end of the stick within thebarrel, responsive to radial deformation forces applied thereto toaxially advance the stick and translating means through the barrel, inone direction only.

In addition the pencil of the present invention comprises supportmembers within the barrel having apertures through which the pencilstick passes so as to centrally support the stick or lead within thebarrel. This reduces the possibility of breakage of the lead due tobending of the barrel or dropping of the pencil. These support membersmay take several forms.

An eraser may also be provided embodying the same principles as thetranslating means. It may have a cylindrical body adjacent to afrusto-conical skirt portion. The skirt portion is responsive to radialdeformation forces to force the body portion, the end of which may beused to erase, out of the pencil barrel in a direction opposite to leadfeeding.

Thus, the improved pencil is one which offers several unique advantages.It is simple to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, fascinating to theoperator, durable and safe. In addition an eraser is provided whichoffers longer life than the ordinary pencil eraser. Other objects andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from the accompanyingdrawings and description which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the description which follows,reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a simplified mechanical pencil employinga translating mechanism and support members according to a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of another variation of the translatingmechanism of the invention shown in a flexible tubular member which hasbeen ovaled or deformed by pressing on opposite sides thereof;

FIG. 3, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2, is a longitudinal section of thedeformed tubular and translating members of FIG. 2, taken along theminor diameter thereof;

FIG. 4, taken along line 44 of FIG. 2, is a longitudinal section similarto FIG. 3 except being taken along the major diameter thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the portion of a tubular member in whichis disposed an eraser utilizing the principles of the translatingmechanism of the present invention. 1

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an alternative support member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 1,there is shown a tubular pencil barrel 10 in which is longitudinallydisposed a writing stick or pencil lead 12. The pencil barrel 10 isprovided with a frusto-conical tip 14 through the end of which isprovided a cylindrical aperture or passage 16. The tip 14 can beseparately manufactured of metal or any other suitable material.However, it can be integrally formed with the rest of the barrel 10. Thebarrel 10 is preferably of a flexible material such as plastic and maybe formed by extruding. The pencil tip 14 can also be provided with acountersunk frusto-conical funnel or guide cone 18 to facilitate feedingof lead through the aperture 16. The rearward end of the lead stick 12is affixed to a translating mechanism 20 which is longitudinallydisposed within the barrel 10.

Support members 11, 13 may also be provided within the barrel to supportthe lead 12 against bending forces which might break the lead. Thesesupport members also cushion the lead against shock forces which mightbe encountered if the pencil were dropped.

Two types of support members are shown. The first 11 comprises a pair ofwafer-like circular disks with central apertures through which the lead12 may pass. The disks are hingedly connected at one side 11a to helpprevent them from becoming cocked to one side within the barrel 10. Thesecond type 13 comprises a square shaped wafer the corners 13a of whichhave been bent inwardly so that it may be accommodated within thetubular barrel 10. Either of these support members may be convenientlymade of paper or many other suitable materials. Of course other designsmight also be used.

The translating mechanism can take several forms. The one shown in FIG.1 has a cylindrical body portion at the forward end of which is afrusto-conical guide nose 22 and at the rearward end of which is afrusto-conical skirt portion 23. The diameter of the body portion 21 andthe minor diameter of the frustoconical skirt 23 is less than theinternal diameter of the barrel 10. The major diameter of thefrusto-conical skirt 23, in its free state, is greater than the internaldiameter of barrel 10. The translating member 20 is of a resilientmaterial, such as rubber, and when it is inserted into the pencil barrel10 from the end opposite tip 14, the skirt 23 is compressed or deformedby the walls of the barrel 10. The rear end of translating member 20 maybe countersunk or hollowed out such as shown at 25 to make the lip 27 atthe base of skirt 23 more flexible.

By grasping the pencil barrel 10 near the translating mechanism 20 andapplying an external force thereto, by finger pressure, the barrel willbe deformed so that its cross section at that point has an oval shapesuch as the barrel 30 shown in FIG. 2. When the barrel 10 is deformed, aportion of the skirt member 23 is deformed or flexed inwardly. When thebarrel is released, its circular cross section is restored. During therelease, the deformed portion of the skirt 23 expands. However, sincethe skirt 23 flares rearwardly, it resists movement in the rearwarddirection. Thus, the expansion of the skirt, or return to its initialposition, exerts a force in the forward axial direction, causing thebody portion 21 and consequently lead stick 12 to be advanced a shortdistance. Radial forces can be alternately applied to and released fromthe barrel or, preferably, the barrel can be rolled between the fingersto repeat the cycle.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, another embodiment of the invention will beshown which will further illustrate the step-by-step advancing conceptutilized in the invention. The translating mechanism of this particularembodiment is shown disposed in a flexible tubular member 30, such asthe barrel 10 in FIG. 1. It also comprises a central body portion 41.However, instead of a frusto-conical skirt, such as 23 in FIG. 1, aplurality of resilient fingers 43 project radially therefrom for contactwith the tubular body 30 in much the same manner as the frusto-conicalskirt 23 of FIG. 1. In the illustration shown, there are two sets offour fingers 'eachoriented at to each other. The translating mechanism40 is placed inside the tubular body 30, which has a diameter slightlyless than the diameter of a circle enclosing the tips of fingers 43 intheir free standing position. Ovaling the body 30, around thetranslating member 40, increases the preload and grip of the fingers 43on the minor axis while relieving the preload on the major axis,allowing the fingers 43 on the major axis to spring forward and outward,as shown in FIG. 4. Restoring the tube to its nondeformed shape, causesthe extended fingers 43 to grip the body walls, preventing backwardmotion and pulling the other fingers 43 forward along the central bodyportion 40.

The amount of advance of the translating member per actuation isproportional to the amount of finger or skirt deformation, the diameterof the translating member and friction between the translating memberand tubular bore. The travel obtained in one actuation may beillustrated by the distance x as shown in FIG. 3.

The shape of the elastic tubular member in which the translating memberis disposed can be of any axisymmetric configuration as long as it canbe significantly defonned without permanent set. There are, of course, anumber of translating member shapes which will also function. Conicalfrustums such as shown in FIG. 1 and angled fingers or wires such asshown in FIGS. 2-4 can be used individually or in many combinations.

As shown in FIG. 5, the non-writing end of the pencil could be providedwith an eraser 50 utilizing the same translating principles of thetranslating members 20 and 40 heretofore described. Such an eraser 50might include a cylindrical body portion 51 and a frustoconical skirtportion 52. The diameter of the body portion 51 and the minor diameterof the skirt portion 52 would be equal to or slightly less than theinternal diameter of barrel 10. The major diameter of the frustoconicalskirt 52, in its free state, would be'greater than the internal diameterof barrel 10.

As in the translating members 20 and 40, radial forces could be appliedaround the exterior of barrel 10 near skirt 52 by rolling the barrel 10between the fingers. Alternate contraction and expansion of the skirtportion 52 would gradually feed the eraser 50 out of the end of barrel10. This would permit continuous, replacement of eraser material,something not permissible with the standard wooden pencil. It will benoted that advance of the eraser 50 would be opposite to the directionof lead advancement in the pencil.

By selecting the proper barrel or tube material, a pencil embodying thepresent invention can be much safer than other mechanical pencils. Thematerial selected can be adequately stiff for normal handling and useyet soft enough to collapse if struck sharply (as with a child fallingon the pencil). During the collapse of the barrel, the lead stick willbreak harmlessly within the barrel.

The unique translating mechanism disclosed herein can be used, ofcourse, not only with pencils, but in any other application whichrequires the dispensing of a material from a tubular container. Forexample, it is ideally suited for dispensers for lubricants, adhesives,medicines, drugs, cosmetics, etc. The common lipstick or lip balm wouldbe ideally suited for such a mechanism.

Components of a pencil or dispenser may, according to the presentinvention, all be made from plastic, rubber, etc., which are materialsamenable to mass production at very low unit cost. There are no closetolerance parts and the materials are not critical. The tubular body canbe a simple extrusion of elastic material such as plastic, metal,rubber, etc. The translating mechanism or piston can be an injectionmolded part or machined from similar elastic material. The uniquemechanism of the invention utilizes very simple components.

Although only a few embodiments of the invention have been describedherein, several applications thereof have been mentioned. Many othervariations of construction and applications will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the scope of theinvention be limited only by the claims which follow.

We claim:

1. A pencil comprising: a flexible tubular barrel; a stick of writingmaterial longitudinally disposed in said barrel; support means withinsaid barrel centrally supporting said stick of writing material therein;and resilient translating means engaging said stick within said barrelresponsive to radial deformation forces applied to said barrel aroundsaid translating means to axially advance said stick and saidtranslating means through said barrel in one direction only.

2. A pencil as set forth in claim 1 in which said support meanscomprises a wafer-like member, between said translating means and theend of said barrel, having a central aperture through which said stickof writing material passes.

3. A pencil as set forth in claim 2 in which said support meanscomprises a pair of said wafer-like members hingedly connected on oneside thereof to prevent cocking within said barrel.

4. A pencil as set forth in claim 2 in which said waferlike member ispolygonal in shape, the corners of which are bent inwardly to permitaccommodation of said member within said barrel.

5. A pencil as set forth in claim 1 in which said support means slidablyengages the walls of said barrel member preventing interference with theadvancement of said translating means through said barrel.

6. A pencil asset forth in claim 1 including an eraser disposed in oneend of said barrel comprising a cylindrical body portion and an adjacentportion from which radially projects projection means for engagementwith the internal walls of said tubular member, said projection meansbeing responsive to radial deformation forces applied to said barrelaround said eraser to axially advance said eraser through said barrel ina direction opposite to said one direction.

7. A pencil comprising: a flexible tubular barrel; a stick of writingmaterial longitudinally disposed in said barrel; resilient translatingmeans engaging said stick within said barrel responsive to radialdeformation forces applied to said barrel around said translating meansto axially advance said stick through said barrel; and an eraserdisposed in one end of said barrel responsive to radial deformationforces applied to said barrel around said eraser to axially advance saideraser through said barrel in a direction opposite the advance of saidstick.

8. A pencil as set forth in claim 7 in which said eraser comprises acylindrical body portion from which radially projects resilient meansfor engagement with the interior of said barrel.

9. A pencil as set forth in claim 8 in which said resilient meanscomprises a frusto-conical skirt converging toward the direction of saideraser axial advance, the major diameter of said skirt being greaterthan the internal diameter of said barrel.

10. A pencil as set forth in claim 9 including support means disposedwithin said barrel between said translating means and the end of saidpencil opposite to said one end, said support means having an aperturethrough which said stick passes for central radial support thereofwithin said barrel.

1. A pencil comprising: a flexible tubular barrel; a stick of writingmaterial longitudinally disposed in said barrel; support means withinsaid barrel centrally supporting said stick of writing material therein;and resilient translating means engaging said stick within said bArrelresponsive to radial deformation forces applied to said barrel aroundsaid translating means to axially advance said stick and saidtranslating means through said barrel in one direction only.
 2. A pencilas set forth in claim 1 in which said support means comprises awafer-like member, between said translating means and the end of saidbarrel, having a central aperture through which said stick of writingmaterial passes.
 3. A pencil as set forth in claim 2 in which saidsupport means comprises a pair of said wafer-like members hingedlyconnected on one side thereof to prevent cocking within said barrel. 4.A pencil as set forth in claim 2 in which said wafer-like member ispolygonal in shape, the corners of which are bent inwardly to permitaccommodation of said member within said barrel.
 5. A pencil as setforth in claim 1 in which said support means slidably engages the wallsof said barrel member preventing interference with the advancement ofsaid translating means through said barrel.
 6. A pencil as set forth inclaim 1 including an eraser disposed in one end of said barrelcomprising a cylindrical body portion and an adjacent portion from whichradially projects projection means for engagement with the internalwalls of said tubular member, said projection means being responsive toradial deformation forces applied to said barrel around said eraser toaxially advance said eraser through said barrel in a direction oppositeto said one direction.
 7. A pencil comprising: a flexible tubularbarrel; a stick of writing material longitudinally disposed in saidbarrel; resilient translating means engaging said stick within saidbarrel responsive to radial deformation forces applied to said barrelaround said translating means to axially advance said stick through saidbarrel; and an eraser disposed in one end of said barrel responsive toradial deformation forces applied to said barrel around said eraser toaxially advance said eraser through said barrel in a direction oppositethe advance of said stick.
 8. A pencil as set forth in claim 7 in whichsaid eraser comprises a cylindrical body portion from which radiallyprojects resilient means for engagement with the interior of saidbarrel.
 9. A pencil as set forth in claim 8 in which said resilientmeans comprises a frusto-conical skirt converging toward the directionof said eraser axial advance, the major diameter of said skirt beinggreater than the internal diameter of said barrel.
 10. A pencil as setforth in claim 9 including support means disposed within said barrelbetween said translating means and the end of said pencil opposite tosaid one end, said support means having an aperture through which saidstick passes for central radial support thereof within said barrel.